Jon Daniels: 'The team will be designed with Adrian Beltre as our third baseman'

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Texas Rangers Robinson Chirinos' left, and Adrian Beltre are pictured in the dugout during the Houston Astros vs. the Texas Rangers major league baseball game at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday, September 27, 2017. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)

SURPRISE, Ariz. - As far as Jon Daniels is concerned, there is resolution to any questions about whether Adrian Beltre will be part of the Rangers in 2018.

He will be.

"The team will be designed with Adrian as our third baseman," Daniels said Wednesday afternoon between scouting meetings at the team's spring training facility.

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Daniels and Beltre met in the final days of the season, as they usually do, for an exit interview on the season. For Beltre, who will be 39 next April and in the final year of his contract, there were also pressing questions about the direction of the club. Beltre acknowledged, given the limited time he has remaining to play, he would be willing to ask for a trade if the Rangers were headed in a rebuilding direction.

Daniels said he and Beltre emerged on the same page: The Rangers have no intention of rebuilding.

"He has said he loves it here, he loves his teammates, he loves the way the fans have embraced him," Daniels said. "He wanted to know that we intend to win with his current teammates and that we have a chance. And that is very much where our mindset is.

"I don't think this is the year we're going to push for 10 All-Star players [on the free agent market]," Daniels added. "But I believe we can contend."

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And then Beltre could potentially request a chance to go to a team with a better chance to win, although trading him late in the offseason and getting a significant return would be difficult. If the Rangers do go in the direction of a rebuild at some point in the next year, it might make the most sense to hold Beltre as a trading deadline piece.

In the meantime, the Rangers and Beltre will work with trying to come up with a plan that allows him to stay in the lineup more frequently. Beltre played in 94 games, the fewest since he was first called to the majors midway through the 1998 season, due to calf and hamstring injuries. The Rangers have long wanted him to take a few more days off from playing third and spend a little more time at DH.

"We've been asking him that for a while," Daniels said. "But a lot will depend on the shape of the roster. It's difficult to find a balance. First and foremost, we want him in the lineup. But he's also still an elite third baseman."